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The artwork is available to the public through a digital gallery online, and to patients and visitors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
“We have a great collection of artwork and we want to share it more publicly and in meaningful ways,” said John T. Lange, curator of the Cedars-Sinai art collection. “A great number of the artworks in this exhibit were created by artists who champion community and support of said community.”
The exhibit is part of a larger initiative at Cedars-Sinai to spotlight diverse communities, voices and perspectives, said Nicole Mitchell, Cedars-Sinai’s chief diversity and inclusion officer.
“Making sure people of all backgrounds feel seen and included is so important to us,” Mitchell said. “The diversity of the Cedars-Sinai community is such a large part of what makes us strong.”
The initiative for Hispanic Heritage Month also included an event to honor the Cedars-Sinai employees who inspire others to achieve personal and professional success, both at the medical center and within the Latinx community.
“It is incredible to see all the staff who came to celebrate the month and hear firsthand from the people within the hospital about how they got to where they are,” said Jennifer Astasio, RN, a musical performer at the celebration.
“We all come from different cultures and circumstances, and I’m proud to work at an organization that supports that in so many different ways.”
In the art exhibit, one of Lange’s personal favorite pieces is “Blue China,” a work by the artist Gronk (Glugio Nicandro), a Chicano performance artist and painter from East Los Angeles whose work is prominently featured in museums and galleries across the U.S., including The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
Several of Gronk’s works are included in the Cedars-Sinai exhibit. They can be identified by their distinct style—layers of intensely colored inks create expansive, expressionistic images, often denoting personal or community challenges. This art is connected with the Chicano Movement or “El Movimiento,” a social and political movement to combat structural racism against people of Mexican descent, fight for rights and empower the community.
“Some of our staff and visitors know Gronk’s work or know him personally, while others are discovering artists they’ve not heard of before but really connected with the imagery they were seeing in the artwork,” Lange said.
Other artists featured in the exhibit include José Lozano, Julio Martinez, J. Perez, Peter Tovar, T.G. Mescua and Leo Limón.
No matter an art lover’s culture or ethnicity, at the root of the exhibit is the healing power of art, said Lange.
“Personally, I love the artworks we picked for this exhibit,” Lange said. “They each have their own personality, bold bright colors and interesting mark making. Each piece has its own voice and really stands out. They really catch your eye and stop you in your tracks. I love when an artwork has the ability to catch your attention so well that it literally makes you stop for a moment and pay attention, to really see it and think about it, even if just for a moment.”
Read more in the Cedars-Sinai Blog: My Favorite Artwork: Employees Reflect on Art and Healing
